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Bramhope Archers
(1539)In anticipation of war with France, Henry VIII ordered a general muster of able-bodied men throughout the kingdom. That for the wapentake of Skyrack, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, took place at Wike (near Leeds) before sir William Gascoigne the elder, sir William Middleton and sir William Maleverer, on 26 March 1539. Skyrack wapentake consisted of the ancient parishes of Aberford, Adel, Bardsey, Barwick in Elmet, Bingley, Collingham, Garforth, Guiseley, Harewood, (part of) Ilkley, Kippax, Otley, Swillington and Thorner, as well as the borough of Leeds. This muster roll listing the archers, billmen and spearmen of the wapentake by township or constablewick, was preserved among the State Papers in the Public Record Office; it was edited by W. Paley Baildon, and printed in three issues of the Miscellanea of the Thoresby Society (volumes 4 and 9) through to 1899. For each township there is a list of archers, divided into those fully and those partly ('parcel') armoured ('harnessed'), and a similar list of billmen; a few spearmen also appear. The weapon of the billmen - the bill or halberd - was a blade with a long wooden handle, sometimes with a hook with a cutting edge added at one side.

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Collingham Billmen
(1539)In anticipation of war with France, Henry VIII ordered a general muster of able-bodied men throughout the kingdom. That for the wapentake of Skyrack, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, took place at Wike (near Leeds) before sir William Gascoigne the elder, sir William Middleton and sir William Maleverer, on 26 March 1539. Skyrack wapentake consisted of the ancient parishes of Aberford, Adel, Bardsey, Barwick in Elmet, Bingley, Collingham, Garforth, Guiseley, Harewood, (part of) Ilkley, Kippax, Otley, Swillington and Thorner, as well as the borough of Leeds. This muster roll listing the archers, billmen and spearmen of the wapentake by township or constablewick, was preserved among the State Papers in the Public Record Office; it was edited by W. Paley Baildon, and printed in three issues of the Miscellanea of the Thoresby Society (volumes 4 and 9) through to 1899. For each township there is a list of archers, divided into those fully and those partly ('parcel') armoured ('harnessed'), and a similar list of billmen; a few spearmen also appear. The weapon of the billmen - the bill or halberd - was a blade with a long wooden handle, sometimes with a hook with a cutting edge added at one side.